Barcelona defeated Elche on home soil in a hard-fought game.
Barcelona defeated Elche with a 3-2 result in a La Liga game on Saturday. The Catalans ended their run of four winless games as they defeated Elche in a close match.
Barcelona return to winning ways!
The Catalans dominated the possession early on and got the winner through youngster Ferran Jutlga Blanc in the 16th minute. With the help of their great transition play in midfield, Barcelona doubled their lead only three minutes later.
Another Barca talent Gavi slalomed through Elche’s midfield before striking past the keeper from the edge of the box. Barcelona kept dominating the game in the first half, but they were not able to extend their lead.
However, things changed for Barcelona in the second half. Similar to Barca’s last few performances, the opponents found a way to hurt the Blaugrana through their unstable defence. Tete Morente scored the first goal for Elche in the 62nd minute, but that was not their last goal of the night. Pere Milla scored the equalizer for the guests with a diving header only one minute later.
Elche stunned Barcelona with their quick return into the game. However, Xavi Hernandez’s side did what they have failed to do in their recent matches.
They kept pushing to get the match-winner and finally scored it in the 85th minute. Gavi completed his incredible performance with a precise cut-back, which found Nico Gonzalez in the perfect spot. The 19-year-old smashed the ball into the top-left corner of the net to make it 3-2 for Barcelona.
The VAR checked the scene for a potential offside, but they ultimately registered it as a valid goal. It was enough to secure Barcelona their first win in five games.
The Catalans climb up to seventh place on the league table with 27 points from their 17 games. They will face Sevilla in their last match of the year on Tuesday.
Player Ratings
Barcelona: Ter Stegen (5); Araujo (6), Garcia (6), Lenglet (7), Alba (6); De Jong (5), Busquets (6), Gaviria (9); Ezzalzouli (8), Dembele (7), Jutgla (7).
Bench: Iglesias (7), Balde (6), Puig (6).
Elche: Badia (6); Palacios (7), Roco (5), Gonzalez (6), Mojica (6); Josan (6), Marcone (5), Mascarell (6), Fidel (5); Perez (6), Boye (7).
Bench: Gumau (6), Morente (8), Guti (6), Josema (5), Milla (6).
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